Collapsible foot rest



Oct. 30, 1934. w. GREEN ET AL COLLAPSIBLE FOOT REST Filed March 7, 19322 Sheets-Sheet Oct. 30, 1934. w GREEN ET AL 1,979,152

COLLAPSIBLEJ FOOT REST Filed March 7, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 52 v Wvmvrma07M. 4-4 M1 3 dew Patented Oct. 30, 1934 COLLAPSIBLE FOO'. II BE STWilliam Green and Robert B. Alguire, Glens Falls, N. Y.; said Alzuireassignor to said Green Application March 7, 1932, Serial No. 597,170

-5Claims.

This invention relates to folding or collapsible foot rests. Its objectis to provide a foot rest of this type which is strong and simple inconstruction, attractive in appearance and of rela- B tively lightweight, readily collapsible into a convenient folded condition and asreadily adjustable into an open or operative condition for use. Insecuring this object, we have constructed a novel foot rest of few partswhichmay be individually produced at low cost and convenientlyassembled. These comprise an upright portion, a rest or shelf portionpivotally connected thereto and including or being associated with atension member or'members which serve to determine positively therelationship of the parts when the device is in operative condition.

The tension member may take the form of a bail or a pair of bailsconnected to one of the said portions and cooperating with the otherportion to hold the two portions either in their operative position ortheir closed position, the.

bail preferably being of a resilient nature and so mounted that it notonly serves to hold the two portions in either of their extremepositions but furthermore functions automatically to move themresiliently to such positions from an intermediate or neutral point.Thus the device is normally held in the open or closed position and inthe latter the whole assembly forms a substantially fiat andconvenientlymarried unit.

Furthermore, whenthe device is in use the'bail retains the parts bytension in their proper position, the weight of the feet of the user onthe shelf portion being transmitted through the 'bail or bails tothe-upright portion and balanced against the pressure of the toes uponthe upper part of the upright portion. These and. other features of theinvention will be best understood and appreciated from the 40 followingdescription of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes ofillustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l. isa perspective view of my improved foot rest in use;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the foot rest in collapsedposition; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the foot rest with its parts in theneutralposition.

Referring more specifically. to the drawings by reference characters,the foot rest comprises an upright or main portion and a shelf or restportion. The upright portion, as illustrated, is constructed of twovslightly divergent posts 14 I connected by transverse rungsor braces 16.

'55 The rest portion is preferably of like construction and comprises aplurality of rods or dowels 18 having their outer ends inserted in 2.rectangular bar 20 and their inner ends fastened in a bar 22, this barbeing disposed between and pivoted at its ends to the posts 14 of theupright portion at an intermediate point.

Also carried by one of the portions andIcooperating with the other is a.bail comprising two slide rods 26 connected at their outer ends by a bar28. In the drawings the bail is illustrated as carried by the bar 20 ofthe rest portion and cooperating with the posts 14 of the uprightportion. The rods 26 are of a resilient nature and are rigidly fastenedin the bar 20 along with the rods 18 so that they tend normally to liein the same plane with the rods 18. The free end of the bail extendsover and embraces the upper part of the upright portion, the bar 28engaging the posts 14. At points above the bar 22 the posts 14 areprovided with projecting stops or studs 30 which engage the side rods 26and deflect them upwardly out of the plane of the rods 18 of the restportion, thus maintaining the rods 26 always in a stressed condition.The bottom end of the posts 14 are preferably equipped with frictionmembers 32 of rubber or the like and are thereby prevented from skiddingon the floor when the rest is in use.

The foot rest is shown in its open or operative position in Fig. 1 andin its folded or collapsed position in Fig. 2. In changing the devicefrom one condition to the other, the upright portion is moved into aneutral position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, wherein it extendsat right angles to the flexible side rods 26 of the. bail member and sodeflects them to a maximum distance from the plane of the rods 18. Itwill be apparent that as the upright portion is carried beyond thispoint in either direction the spring pressure of the bail 5 member uponthe studs 30 will tend to swing the upright member toward either itsfolded condition or its fully opened and operative position. The springactionof the bail, further, tends to hold the two portions of the footrest in their operative relation, since in moving from this to theneutral position the bail is further lifted and its tension increased.On the other hand, the bail is still maintained under tension when thefoot rest is collapsed and thus serves, to prevent the device fromswinging open when picked up-or carried from one place to another. Thusthe device is normally and automatically caused to assume 'oneor theother of its two conditions and is by the same means resiliently held insuch position.

When the foot rest is in use the weight of the feet and legs upon therest portion is sustained by the upright portion which, therefore, tendsto tilt forwardly since its feet are prevented from slipping or skiddingoutwardly. This tendency to tilt, however, is balanced by the pressureof the users toes against the upper part of the upright portion andthis, in turn, is balanced by the pull of the bail member tending tolift the free end of the rest portion beneath the users knees. Theresult of these balanced forces and weights is to render the whole footrest extremely adaptable and cause it to'follow various changes in theposition of the user and fully to support his feet and legs. Inoperative position the upright portion is slightly inclined away fromthe user.

Having thus described, what we claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

l. A collapsible foot rest, comprising a main portion adapted to standin an upright position on the floor, a rest portion connected thereto,the two portions being collapsible into a folded position or adjustableinto an operative position wherein the rest portion is supported on themain portion and at an angle thereto, and means including a resilientbail carried by one portion and cooperating with means on the otherportion to hold positively the portions against relative movement beyondoperative position and resiliently against collapsing movement.

2. A foot rest comprising an upright member, a shelf pivotally connectedat one end thereto at an intermediate point of the upright member andarranged to be horizontally disposed,

a resilient bail secured to the free end of the shelf and embracing theupright member, and stops on said upright member and engaged by the bailfor maintaining the bail always flexed out of the plane of the shelf.

3. A foot rest comprising an upright member, a shelf pivotally connectedat one end thereto and comprising a plurality of dowel rods inserted ina cross bar at the free end of the shelf and secured at their other endsin the shelf, and a bail comprising resilient dowel rods similarlyinserted in said cross bar at one end and maintained at all times bowedout of the plane of the shelf, the other end embracing the uprightmember and engaging means there- 4. A foot rest comprising a mainportion adapted to stand in an upright position of the floor, a shelfpivotally connected at one end thereto and comprising a row of dowel.rods inserted in a cross bar at the free end of the shelf and secured attheir other ends in the shelf, and a bail comprising resilient dowelrods disposed on opposite sides of said row, independently connected atone end to said cross bar and maintained at all times in a bowed andstressed condition, the other end embracing the upright member andengaging means thereon.

5. A foot rest comprising an upright member, a shelf pivotally connectedat one end thereto at an intermediate point of the upright member, aspring bail connected rigidly to the shelf at its outer end andembracing the upright member, and stops in thesides of the uprightmember holding the free end of the bail above the point of pivotalconnection of the shelf.

WILLIAM GREEN. ROBERT B. ALGUIRE.

